TANGIER, Morocco – Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has criticised what he describes as ‘unfair scheduling’ after the Pharaohs’ 1-0 semi-final loss to Senegal in the 2025 AFCON at the Grand Stade de Tanger on Wednesday night.
He claimed there was a lack of ‘fairness’ and suggested a possible conspiracy to prevent the seven-time champions from reaching the final.
In an unusual post-match press conference, the former striker turned coach described his team as being physically ‘tortured’ by a biased schedule that seemed to favour their opponents.
The crux of Hassan’s frustration centred on the recovery time afforded to both teams. Senegal entered the semi-final having played their quarter-final in Tangier, with an extra day of rest. Egypt, meanwhile, had to fly in from Agadir after a gruelling quarter-final victory over the Ivory Coast. Agadir is 790km from Tangier, and the flight is typically 1 hour and 30 minutes.
“We come here to play on the same field for Senegal [their base during AFCON], that’s not fair,” Hassan fumed. “We had two days’ rest and one travel day. If we look at the two teams [including Morocco], we can see their rest days. I feel sorry for my players. I didn’t manage to recover them. The team we played against was staying at the same hotel and in the same city. We didn’t rest; we travelled.
“By what FIFA law is this done? When a team reaches the semis, do you honour it or torture it? Even the team we played, we played after them [in the round of 16]. Why?”
HOSSAM HASSAN REFUSES TO BLAME PLAYERS
Despite the loss, decided by a 78th-minute strike from Sadio Mané, Hassan refused to blame his squad, instead calling them ‘heroes’ for their effort under the circumstances.
“I’m satisfied with what my players did. Any mistakes that happened are on me and not the players,” he said. “We tried to change [the game], but we didn’t have opportunities. Even the goal scored didn’t come from clear opportunities; it was a deflection.”
The coach’s rhetoric took a darker turn as he implied that outside forces may have wanted to see Egypt fail. During the match, Hassan was seen holding up seven fingers to the crowd and officials, a pointed reminder of Egypt’s record seven AFCON titles.
“I didn’t understand… maybe people were worried Egypt would be in the final,” Hassan suggested. “We were close to winning. I’m not satisfied with the fairness. Egypt can win seven AFCONs; we are a big team. We need to respect fairness.”
Hassan also pointed to a specific foul in the closing stages that he felt went unpunished, adding to his belief that the officiating was not up to standard.
While Senegal moves on to face Morocco in the final, Egypt must now regroup for the third-place playoff.
“Everyone is jealous of our history,” he concluded. “Egypt is the mother of Africa in terms of history and titles.”
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